Downingtown STEM Academy graduates first class

Staff photos by Tom Kelly IV
The Downingtown Area School District's STEM Academy held their inaugural commencement ceremony as part of the school district's 133rd annual graduation. The ceremony was held at Kottmeyer Stadium, Wednesday night, June 4, 2014. Here, STEM Academy Headmaster Art Campbell presents the students to Superintendent Dr. Lawrence J. Mussoline Jr. to be conferred.

Staff photos by Tom Kelly IV
The Downingtown Area School District's STEM Academy held their inaugural commencement ceremony as part of the school district's 133rd annual graduation. The ceremony was held at Kottmeyer Stadium, Wednesday night, June 4, 2014. Here, graduates return to their seats after processing to receive their diplomas on the stage.

DOWNINGTOWN — The first graduating class at the STEM Academy were encouraged Wednesday by the commencement speakers that their continuous efforts will lead to success as “potential has no boundaries.”

Commencement speaker John George Armstrong described the class of 2014 graduates as “global thinkers” who will succeed with continuous efforts.

“We were pioneers to venture into this innovative concept of 21st-century education (of) STEM and International Baccalaureate curriculum,” Armstrong said. “We were handed laptops instead of books and asked to make our marks. And we did.”

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The STEM Academy — science, technology, engineering, mathematics — opened as the third high school in the Downingtown Area School District in fall 2011 to sophomores. Three years later, 174 students graduated.

Armstrong said that in learning how to think, “We learned a lot about ourselves — our talents and our weaknesses.”

Armstrong read a Winston Churchill quote: “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” Armstrong said that “not one of my classmates can deny the last three years have been filled with continuous efforts.”

“We have learned that failure is not fatal,” Armstrong said. “And that applying continuous effort will lead to success.”

He asked them to reflect on their experiences as the “only class to attend the school for three years as seniors.” As the first graduating class, he said “we are committed to making a difference in the world, just like we did here in Downingtown.”

He told his classmates to follow their dreams, because their “potential has no boundaries.”

Commencement speaker Amanda Boornazian said their continuous efforts “to not give up, to keep going, to push farther” led to success.

“We do not only celebrate our journey to the finish line. Graduation, our journey, symbolizes so much more,” Boornazian said. “This graduation is a celebration of our failures, because they were always followed by success.”

She said the STEM Academy could have failed, but it did not because of the passion and determination by students, staff and others involved. She encouraged her classmates to strive with their passion.

“May this passion, this drive, and this continuous effort never fade,” Boornazian said. “Our willing and passionate attempts to unlock the unknown will take us places.”

Headmaster Art Campbell said the graduates “took a leap of faith and accepted the challenge of joining a school community different than anything that Downingtown had seen before.”

Campbell, who became the headmaster in 2012, asked the graduates to remember the times they dealt with “possible or actual failure.”

“Remember how you faced challenges. Remember what it took to overcome them,” Campbell said. “And remember how it felt when you succeeded.”

He thanked the class of 2014 for being an “extraordinary example for all of those to follow.”

“You are without a doubt the best senior class that has ever gone through the STEM Academy,” Campbell joked, and added, ”And in my opinion, probably the best that’s ever gone through the Downingtown Area School District.”

School board President Jane Bertone said the STEM Academy vision began years ago with past school board members and past district officials. She said her greatest recognition for the district is for the students who “achieved beyond anyone’s expectations.”

She said she knows she will read headlines about the graduates in the future as the “road for each of you goes well beyond the walls of this school.”

Superintendent Lawrence Mussoline called the students risk-takers for their decision to attend STEM. Risk-taking can be rewarding, he said, “not only articulating a risky vision is important, but carrying it out with fidelity.”

Mussoline said renovating the school building at 335 Manor Ave. was a risk that proved worth taking.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore,” Mussoline said. “We lost sight of the shore with this program; we did in creating this school.”

He encouraged the students to stay modest, as he said they were when STEM Academy ranked No. 1 in the state as according to the school performance profile. The test, new this year, communicates schools’ performance results to inform the public of the academic measurements in schools.

“You didn’t talk a big game. You just stepped up and knocked it out of the park to be the No. 1 school in Pennsylvania,” said Mussoline, who got emotional during his speech.